Abnormal behavior is defined as “behavior that causes people to experience distress and prevents them from functioning in their daily lives” (Feldman, 2020, p. 412). You have probably experienced mood swings or moments of depression in your life, yet this does not necessarily mean you have a major depressive or mood disorder. To be considered a psychological disorder, behavior must be disabling or lead to dysfunction.

Week 6: Psychological Disorders and Treatment

Abnormal behavior is defined as “behavior that causes people to experience distress and prevents them from functioning in their daily lives” (Feldman, 2020, p. 412). You have probably experienced mood swings or moments of depression in your life, yet this does not necessarily mean you have a major depressive or mood disorder. To be considered a psychological disorder, behavior must be disabling or lead to dysfunction.

Anxiety, mood, and personality disorders are some of the more common psychological diagnoses. Years of research has taught us that many genetic, environmental, and social-cultural factors impact diagnosis of psychological disorders. With such diverse influences, the line between normal behavior and psychologically disordered behavior may be hard to draw and in a clinical setting, these factors influence how both patients and psychologists understand disorders and consequent treatments. For example, the biomedical model has traditionally viewed psychological disorders as illnesses that must be cured. In contrast, the psychotherapeutic approach has traditionally recognized that culture and one’s environment and life experiences also influence the circumstances by which we understand psychological disorders. Ultimately, the same problems may be treated in different ways depending on each individual’s needs and each psychologist’s theoretical approach to treatment. This week you examine several different psychological disorders, as well as various perspectives on what causes these disorders and how best to treat them.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Reflect on course concepts as they relate to professional and academic development, and social change
• Demonstrate comprehension of different perspectives about abnormality
• Define major psychological disorders
• Recognize major approaches to psychotherapy

Assignment: Blog: Reflection

Think back to Week 1 when you were asked to describe your beliefs about the field of psychology. How have your beliefs changed? Throughout the last 6 weeks you have learned to think like a psychologist by taking a scientific approach to understanding observable behaviors and internal experiences such as emotions, perceptions, and cognition. You may find that you now see the field somewhat differently. For example, you may realize that some of your beliefs from the start of this class were incorrect. You have expanded your knowledge and become more confident in your understanding of the science of psychology. Hopefully you have begun to uncover the secrets of how the brain is connected to our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Take some time to reflect on how you’ve grown and learned this term, and plan how you will incorporate your new knowledge into your everyday life.

By Day 3

With these thoughts in mind, create a blog entry that responds to the following:

Reflecting on what you have learned over the past 6 weeks, explain how your perception of psychology has changed. Next, describe how at least three specific topics or theories you’ve learned about this term can be applied to your personal and professional life. Finally, explain how what you learned in this course will impact your approach to social change. Feel free to comment on each other’s blog postings; responses to peers will not be graded. Support your blog assignment post with at least one reference (textbook or other scholarly, empirical resources).

Your blog will be graded on the components listed below. For specific details refer to the Week 6 Blog Assignment Rubric located in the Course Information area.

• Explanation of how your perceptions noted in Week 1 have changed (20 points)
• Description of how the three selected topics/theories will be used in your life (40 points)
• Impact approach to social change (20 points)
• Quality of writing (20 points)–be sure to support your assignment post with at least one reference (textbook or other scholarly, empirical resources).

Submission and Grading Information

To post your blog entry, click on the Week 6 Assignment link. Then click on the Create Blog Entry button to begin your blog post.

Grading Criteria

Project: Final Project Milestone

By Day 7

Submit your Week 5 Milestone that includes the following:

• A brief description of and APA reference for at least one qualitative data source
• A brief description of and APA reference for at least one quantitative data source
• A 1 to 2 paragraph explanation of how these resources may help inform a potential solution to the social change issue you are addressing

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Project for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Project using the naming convention “WK5Proj+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 5 Project Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 5 Project link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK5Proj+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.